


Music Lessons

by InterNutter



Series: When We Were New [3]
Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Fluff, Gen, WAFF, baby robots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-23
Updated: 2014-04-23
Packaged: 2018-01-20 12:24:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1510325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterNutter/pseuds/InterNutter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some abilities simply can not be built in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Music Lessons

  
Disclaimer: Steam Powered Giraffe belongs to the Bennetts. I just do very silly things to their characters.

Music Lessons  
InterNutter

  "Whoops," Pappy actively blocked Rabbit from grabbing anything else. "No. Nooooo... Let Pappy look. I'll find you something. Something less... friable."  
  Ma joined him, picking up the interesting things and putting them down. "Ooooh. A squeeze box. I didn't know you had all of these, Colonel."  
  "My parents once entertained the idea that I should be educated classically. Alas, I was not any good. Especially at music. Not exactly a tin ear, but definitely a lack of talent in my part." He helped Rabbit hold the squeeze box and showed him how it worked.  
  Rabbit tried each and every button in turn. Then began making a tune.  
  "Let's start with the cheap ones. This is going to be difficult..."  
  Ma had a painted, pink, small... guitar. Yes. "This is a guitar," she said. "A small one, but still a guitar."  
  "Guitar," The Spine echoed.  
  Ma eased it into his arms. Wrapped one hand around the long, thin part. Neck. Yes. Put a penny into his other hand. "Like this." Penny against strings.  
  Strum.  
  That was... that was... RIGHT!  
  He tried it for himself. Pling. Plunk. RUNCH!  
  The Spine chirped a brief alarm, dropping the pieces and trying to hide behind his hands.  
  "There now," soothed Ma. "It's all right. Sshhh..."  
  The heat came back with a vengeance. He could feel himself chuffing. That sound. The splinters. He... broke. Yes. He broke it! He did not like breaking.  
  Pappy almost took his arms completely apart, refining the gears and pulleys that made his hands work. Refined how tightly he could hold. How much control he had.  
  But The Spine had already learned. He broke things.  
  He did not want to break another guitar.  
  He did not want to break *anything*.  
  Pappy put another guitar in his hands. "It's all right. You should have finer motor control, now. Try again. This is what you were built for."  
  Ma kept a hand on his knee. What would be his knee if he had the rest of his legs. "Just try. These are old things and they're cheaply made. You don't have to worry."  
  This time, he managed... strum. Yes. His hands found... chords. Yes. He managed three before a second guitar shattered in his grip.  
  "Closer," encouraged Pappy. "We're getting there."  
  "Maybe a different exercise might help. Something... less destructive," suggested Ma.  
  Pappy laughed. "Like what? Teach him needlework?"  
  Ma made a bad face. Abruptly turned away from Pappy and marched stiffly out of the room.  
  But not before The Spine saw the water coming out of her eyes and spilling down her face. Rabbit must have seen, too, because he stopped pumping music out of his squeeze-box to run fingers down one of his cheek plates.  
  Pappy didn't even notice. "All right, let's take a look at the gears and servos in those hands..."  
  "NO!" He pushed Pappy away. "Go fix Ma!"  
  "Why you make Ma do eye-mess?" said Rabbit. "Why Ma leak water?"  
  "Spine, give me your hand," said Pappy. "This is important."  
  The Spine crammed his hands under his arms. Tried to ignore how hot his boiler was getting. "No, sir," he wished he had lips to do pout. They would have been very useful, right now. "Ma important."  
  Pappy took a step backwards. Staring at him in confusion. "You... You actually care for her..." he seemed so surprised that that could happen. "Huh. I'm better than I thought I was..."  
  Rabbit edged closer to The Spine. "[I don't get it.]"  
  "[I don't understand either,]" The Spine reached out for his brother. "[Maybe we ask again?]"  
  Rabbit put down the squeeze-box and wrapped his arms around The Spine. "Why you make Ma leak, Pappy?"  
  "Why you make Ma sad?" The Spine asked.  
  "Why you no fix?" asked Rabbit.  
  "Why you stay? Ma went."  
  "Why you stay, Pappy?"  
  Pappy sighed, "Because I'm certain Miss Iris will forgive my little joke in time."  
  "What is joke?"  
  "It's something that's funny. That makes people laugh."  
  "Ma did not laugh," said The Spine. "Ma make water on face."  
  "Want fix," said Rabbit. "Feels bad."  
  The Spine nodded so hard he almost tipped himself off the slab. Rabbit made sure he stayed steady.  
  "All right. Fine. I admit I may have mocked Miss Iris more than what was fair. On the other hand, she is a servant with little to no understanding of engineering or mechanics. The fact that she has... some variety of knack with handling the two of you is nothing short of miraculous. The point remains that I do know more about you than she ever could." Pappy tapped The Spine's arm. "Now. Let me have a look at that arm."  
  It took every atom of his failing courage to say, "No," and not add a 'sir'.  
  Pappy was making a bad face, too. "I could force you into sleep mode," he said. "I could do any number of things, but I am asking. Let me fix you, please?"  
  The Spine started shaking.  
  Rabbit said what he wanted to. "We ask, too," he said. "We ask... fix Ma first?"  
  Ma came back with her eyes still making water and her bad face gone dark. She had a big... basket. Yes. A big basket with her that she slammed down on a bench. "When I was little, I had a terrible palsy in my hands and any physician who deigned to look at it said I'd be worse than useless and never amount to anything," she said. Her words were fast and sounded sharp. "But my gram'ma sat down with me and put a needle in my hands and never gave up. My grandmother never learned her letters. Never could handle numbers. But she knew more than any learned doctor in the entire damned country! LOOK!" She held out her hands. "Steady as the rock of Gibraltar."  
  Pappy had backed away from her. "I... I... I didn't know. I had no idea. Miss Iris, please forgive me. I... realise now I had no concept of what I was saying to you. Or why I thought it was funny at all."  
  "Just so," she nodded. "Why don't you take a constitutional with Rabbit while I try a few things. It'll help me cool off."  
  The Spine watched as Pappy took Rabbit by the elbow and said, "Rabbit, have I introduced you to the concept of a rehearsal?" He also grabbed the squeeze-box on his way out.  
  Ma put the basket on the slab and struggled to get herself up next to him. "There, now. It's all right."  
  The Spine found an un-stained corner of the rag and offered it towards Ma's face. "...clean...?" he murmured.  
  "Thank you, dear. I have my own kerchief." Ma dug it out of her front pouches[1]. She did clean on her own face. "See? I'm fine, dear. Now," she sighed and patted her legs. "Gram'ma always had me on her lap. I don't think that would work at all with us."  
  "What is lap?"  
  "It's... the space on top of someone's legs."  
  He considered this. Got an idea. "Self hold... Ma on lap?"  
  Ma smiled. Laughed. "Yes, I think that might just do."  
*  
  He had watched her pick apart the seams of an old sack. Cut it into squares and set them into metal frames. Now she put a threaded needle in his hand and said, "Don't worry, now. You can only bend it." She showed him how to push the needle through the holes in the sacking. In one side, out the other. All the way up the square.  
  The Spine got to do it on his own on the next column. All the way down again.  
  He did not bend the needle. He did not bend the frame. He did not make mess. Nothing broke. It was so... peaceful. Yes. Relaxing. Yes.  
  Rabbit's echoes were full of fear and anxiety. They were not helping. The fact that he was holding both fragile sewing and equally fragile Ma without any harm... did help. A lot.  
  He would have put his head close to Ma's, but he didn't want to dribble oil on her.  
  On the next square, she showed him the different stitches. Straight, back, chain, feather, buttonhole and cross stitches.  
  He mastered each one in turn. Got used to the fine movement needed to make them.  
  He was... happy. Yes. Content.  
  The Spine finished the last of his knotted stitches and showed Ma.  
  "Almost better than Gram'ma," she cooed. "Well done. I think you might be ready."  
  "Ready?"  
  "To try the guitar again," She slid away from him and found another guitar in the big box. "Here we are. And don't worry, we still have four more." She smiled as she put it into his hands. "Nice and gentle. Like you're sewing."  
  Strum.  
  One chord. Two chords. Three. Four. Five!  
  He had music in him, too.  
  And it felt wonderful.  
  He felt Rabbit's approach before Pappy appeared in the doorway. "My goodness," Pappy breathed. "Miss Iris... You are beyond amazing. My compliments to your good self and your grandmother. And if I ever insult you again, you have my sincere permission to kick me!"  
  Ma made herself shorter and tall again. "Thank you, sir. I must say, it took far less time with him than it did with me. Your automatons learn very quickly."  
*  
  "These are stairs."  
  "Stairs," Rabbit repeated.  
  "There's more than a few at the Cavulcadium lecture hall, so you have to learn about them."  
  "What they for?"  
  "Getting up and getting down," Pappy finished setting up two sets of stairs and a platform between them. Weighing them down with heavy things and making sure all was steady. He stepped smartly up to the bridge. "See? I climbed up the stairs."  
  "Ooooh..." Rabbit was impressed. Pappy was smart.  
  Pappy crossed to the other stairs. Went down them so fast. It looked like he was floating. "And that is climbing down the stairs. You try."  
  If Pappy could do it, Rabbit could do it. He was sure. Not as fast or as confident as Pappy, but he could make it.  
  The first step made an ominous noise under his foot. Rabbit took his time putting his weight on it and got steady on that step.  
  This was a scary amount of 'high'. Almost like sitting on the slab and needing Pappy to tip it up so he could get off.  
  No! He could be brave!  
  Pappy just made it look easy because he was older and super smart and could do everything[2].  
  Rabbit put a foot on the next stair. Lifted himself up again. Made the mistake of looking down.  
  So much up!  
  He peeped nervously. Tried to cool his suddenly-too-hot boiler by running his bellows faster.  
  And then Pappy was there. Reaching out for him. "One more step, eh? There's my brave boy. You can do it."  
  Pappy knew everything. Doubt and worry fled in the face of Pappy's reassurance.  
  Rabbit reached for The Spine's echoes, simply because they were all calm and he needed calm. He did not do hold on Pappy, but let Pappy do hold on him. Found the courage to lift a foot to that last step.  
  He never wanted a hug more in his life.  
  "Too much up, Pappy," he complained.  
  Pappy walked away to the other stairs. "Come on. Life's full of ups and downs. You can do this!"  
  Rabbit kept his photoreceptors on Pappy. Managed only a squeak of alarm when Pappy retreated right to the edge of the other stairs. He did not feel happy up here. He did not feel happy with Up at all.  
  "Coming down again is just like walking, only you bend at the knee so your other foot goes down. See?"  
  Rabbit whimpered. He wanted The Spine here so he could be better at pretending bravery. He wanted Ma here so she could very calmly do things so much better. He wanted to be able to hold Pappy's hand so all the scared would go away.  
  "You can do this. You got up, just fine. It's not that much harder."  
  "Too much up," Rabbit whined. "No want fall."  
  Pappy took up a wrist. "I'm right here. You'll do fine."  
  There was lots of stained air... steam. Yes. Lots of steam coming out of him. Rabbit put his weight on one foot. Scraped it across the platform until there was nothing holding it up but air.  
  He was chuffing.  
  "That's it," cooed Pappy. "Now just bend the other knee... Lower that foot."  
  Just. Pappy already knew how to do this. It wasn't so easy for Rabbit. But picturing the rest of his life stuck on this stage made him want to at least try.  
  Pappy's presence helped a lot. Helped him get down by one step. And then down by another. And the very bottom one was so easy, Rabbit almost cried. And Pappy was wrapped around him and doing pat on him with both arms.  
  "There's my brave boy! There's a good, brave boy. Well done! So very well done!" And just like that the hug was over. The smile remained. "You are going to wow them at the Cavulcadium!"  
  "What is cavulcadillymium?"  
  "Cav-ul-ca-di-um. It's an organisation of scientists and inventors. And they are all going to love you."  
  "What about The Spine?"  
  "He's simply not ready, yet. And this is just a little adventure," Pappy began to lead Rabbit back to the lab. "We run through some basic identification procedures, have a little conversation. You could play your squeeze-box. I have just the song..."  
  The Spine was playing a guitar when they got back. Safe and sound and not wrecked. Ma was looking very pleased with herself. Proud. Yes.  
  "My goodness," said Pappy. "Miss Iris... You are beyond amazing. My compliments to your good self and your grandmother. And if I ever insult you again, you have my sincere permission to kick me!"  
  Ma went shorter and tall again. "Thank you, sir. I must say, it took far less time with him than it did with me. Your automatons learn very quickly."  
  Pappy opened and shut no-no doors. "Very quickly, indeed. I'm going to show off Rabbit this afternoon. HA! There's a clean coat!"  
  Rabbit watched in growing horror as Pappy undid his front and took off his outside.  
  Just like that! He took off part of himself!  
  He rushed to The Spine's side, shrieking an emergency siren the entire time. The Spine wasn't much help, shrieking in the exact same manner.  
  "Words!" Mama shouted over the noise. "Words! Use your words!"  
  "Pappy!"  
  "Pappy!"  
  "Pappy hurt himself!"  
  "Pappy come apart!"  
  Ma scooped up his shed piece. "It's not part of Pappy, my darlings. Look. It's just cloth. Clothing. If Pappy was hurt, there would be blood. Like that cut on his hand. See? You could probably try wearing this."  
  "Uh. Their shoulders are significantly wider than mine, Miss Iris," said Pappy.  
  "Then I'll demonstrate." Ma put Pappy's white skin on. "See. No harm at all." And took it off again. "Just cloth. Look. It's okay. You can touch. It won't hurt Pappy."  
  Halfway scared out of their wits, Rabbit and The Spine reached trembling hands for the fabric. Touched and retreated from it four times before they dared try grasping handfuls.  
  "This," ventured The Spine. "This why... you have different arms, Ma?"  
  "They're different dresses, dear. Different clothes."  
  Rabbit picket up the cloth skin and attempted to put it on. He got stuck in it.  
  Ma laughed. "Pappy was right, it doesn't fit you at all. Bend over for me, I'll help you out, sweetheart." She wrestled the cloth skin off Rabbit. "All right. A few names. Coat." She held up Pappy's cloth skin.  
  "Coat," they dutifully echoed.  
  "Pinafore," she took off her white front with the pouches. "Dress." A sweeping gesture to the rest of her.  
  "I like dress," said Rabbit. "Is... swish. Swoosh. All dance."  
  Pappy put on a new... coat. Yes. "Spic and span enough, Miss Iris?" He turned in place for her inspection.  
  The Spine smiled as he watched Ma fuss and tidy Pappy up. "[Is good,]" he told Rabbit. "[Is hug.]"  
  Rabbit felt compelled to copy. "Is I spic and span?"  
  The Spine drew him close to do clean on the places where oil had leaked. Then returned the rag to his chin, where the oil liked to come out, to announce, "Pretty brother."  
  Brother hugs were the best hugs Rabbit could both give and receive.  
  Pappy checked a thing from one of his... pockets. Yes. A ticking thing that fit in his palm. "Not much time. We should make it at a brisk walk. All things considered, I think we'd best take the elevator down to the ground floor."  
  "Ground?" queried The Spine.  
  "Floor?" asked Rabbit.  
  Pappy smiled. "I'm going to show Rabbit to the Cavulcadium. A little surprise. Miss Iris? Is it too much to ask you to keep The Spine company? Poor fellow doesn't like being alone."  
  "I'll teach him to knit," said Ma.  
  Which made Pappy turn darker. "Hurm. Yes. Well. Uh. Did I apologise enough for my previous ill remarks?"  
  "I'm not above offerings of material wealth," she smiled.  
  Now Pappy laughed. "Yes. Well. I must dash. I shall return in an hour or two. Depending on the overall reactions. Good afternoon, Miss Iris."  
  "Good afternoon, Colonel."  
  Ma did not reach for her basket, but dug a book out of her... pocket. Yes. Out of her pocket in her pinafore. "How about I read you a story? I think you might like it. It's about cowboys."  
*  
  Rabbit kept pace with Pappy on the way to the end of the world[3]. "What's outside the end of the world, Pappy?"  
  "Outer space, of course."  
  "Ooh." Outer space! "We go outer space!"  
  "Er. No. Rabbit, we're just taking a walk down the road to the Halls of the Cavulcadium. This world is far larger than you think it is."  
  He could see it. There were things on the other side of the fence. Trees, of course. and a different kind of drive. Flat and dark. And bigger things pulling other things.  
  Which began a long series of Rabbit pointing at things and asking, "What's that?"  
  Pappy provided all the answers.  
  Horse. Carriage. Boy. Girl. Woman. Baby. Flowers. Shop. Chemicals. Boxes. Potatoes. Apples. Stall. Street. Sign.  
  So many wonderful things!  
  People were staring. Children following them to see if the steaming metal man would do anything entertaining. Some ran away. Some just shrank where they were.  
  Rabbit practiced his smiling and waving. But still observing, oh yes. Still watching everything and noting everything. Because Rabbit did not want to miss out on a single thing. He saw...  
  He saw children chasing a hoop with a stick.  
  He saw people exchanging round disks for other things.  
  He saw men tipping their hats at ladies.  
  He saw dogs and cats and horses and goats and one carriage that didn't need a horse but did need a man running in front with a flag[4].  
  And finally, he saw an impressive stone building with a dome on top and way too many steps.  
  "Here we go, Rabbit," said Pappy. "Feel free to hang on to the rail on your way up." A big, excited smile. "I can't wait to see what the others make of you."  
*  
  The Spine shared Rabbit's excitement. He was learning things, too. Not just sewing and embroidery. Knitting. Crochet. Braiding. Soft things that required fine control to achieve. And whenever Ma had to rest her fingers, she would take out a book and read.  
  A book about a time machine, and a man who went so very far into the future that it was like an alien world.  
  "So, in the end, above ground you must have the Haves," Ma read, "pursuing pleasure and comfort and beauty, and below ground the Have-nots, the Workers getting continually adapted to the conditions of their labour. Once they were there, they would no doubt have to pay rent, and not a little of it, for the ventilation of their caverns; and if they refused, they would starve or be suffocated for arrears." Ma had to stop and explain 'rent' and what 'arrears' was. "Such of them as were so constituted as to be miserable and rebellious would die; and, in the end, the balance being permanent, the survivors would become as well adapted to the conditions of underground life, and as happy in their way, as the Upper-world people were to theirs."  
  "That sounds bad," said The Spine.  
  "Mister Wells is trying to show people the error of their ways via fiction," said Ma. "If those who govern are too cruel with their governance, if they become too used to luxury at the cost of others' comforts or even needs... they may become as helpless as the Eloi. And give rise to a people as vicious as the Morloks." She summoned a smile, "It's as much about slavery as it is about the classes."  
  "Class?" The Spine tried to figure this one out. Class was where someone learned things. Ma had explained. "This is class."  
  "Different kind of class, dear."  
  He secretly adored every single time she called him 'dear'. It felt like hugs.  
  "Class is also a way of determining who's... in charge of others. Your Pappy, for example, is of a higher class of people than m-- than any of the maids." She cleaned his face, even though he hadn't leaked lately. "He pays the maids to do the cleaning and some of the organising, and that gives him more time to do... well... other things."  
  "Like Rabbit," The Spine concluded. "Like me."  
  "Yes, dear. That's exactly right. Higher classes of people have more money so they can afford to have a better education. So they can pay for a staff - a group of people working for them - to do all the things they don't want to do. So they have more time to pursue other interests. Some choose art. Some study. Some travel. And some, like your Pappy, invent marvelous things. And some of those things can make the world a better place."  
  "Self..." he corrected himself. "*I*... make world... better?"  
  Ma smiled for him. A warm and genuine smile like the kind she usually made for Pappy when he wasn't looking. "I've heard you play. I'm certain you can."  
  He felt better for almost an entire minute before he realised, "World is big place."  
  "You don't have to tackle it all at once," Ma soothed. "That's almost impossible. What you can do, however is change the lives that your life touches. Inspire others to be happy and to spread that joy around to others."  
  That sounded slightly easier. "Is still big."  
  "You're still new, dear." Ma put the book away and went back to her sewing. "There's plenty of time for learning."  
  That didn't stop it from seeming all so very big and impossible.  
*  
  Rabbit hung his head. "I'm sorry, Pappy," he whimpered. "I d-didn't mean to put my foot through the stage..."  
  "I don't think that's what got them upset," said Pappy. He sighed and continued picking pieces of wood out of Rabbit's left leg. "What got them upset is that I made a musical robot with the same musical ability as me. Which, sadly, is not that much." He managed a smile. "Not your fault, lad. Not your fault at all. It's just another problem to be licked."  
  "I think I know what it's 'sposed'a sound like? I just... couldn't make it come out."  
  "I know, Rabbit. It's okay. We'll find a way around it."  
  There was still music, on the outside. A young human was sitting on the steps making it. Rabbit could tell in a second that this young human really knew how to make music. He started trying to harmonise with his squeeze box and found it coming out so much easier.  
  Not there, yet. But so very much easier.  
  Pappy scrambled down the steps and interrupted the music. Rabbit, trapped at the top of the stairs, could only watch. There was too much noise from the street to listen.  
  Pappy pointed out Rabbit to the human. The human looked, boggled, and turned pale.  
  Rabbit waved and played a phrase the human had been playing on his guitar. He tried to do smile for him, but the look on the young human's face told Rabbit that he'd got something else wrong.  
  At least he could understand why The Spine was so fretful about getting things wrong, now. Getting things wrong felt *awful*. He wanted smiles. Not so very, very many bad faces.  
  Rabbit started to peep an alarm. Pappy was down there so very long and the young human was looking more and more like he wanted to run away. Pappy dashed back up the stairs and did smile, but it was a wrong smile.  
  "It's all right, Rabbit. You can come on down. Come and meet young Mister Reed. I'm sure as soon as he gets to know you, you'll get along just fine. You both love music."  
  Young Mister Reed was boggling as he watched Pappy help Rabbit down the stairs. But he was laughing by the time Rabbit got to him.  
  "An' here am I thinkin' 'e'd be a monster. You're just a babby, aint'cha, mister metal?"  
  "I ain't a baby, I'm five days old," Rabbit protested.  
  Both the humans laughed. A real laugh. Rabbit smiled. He'd made people *happy*.  
*  
  Ma was humming, and The Spine followed the musical phrase on his guitar. They looked such a pretty picture on the slab, even with The Spine so incomplete. They fit well together.  
  Rabbit didn't bother feeling jealous. The Spine had to stay put, but he got to see the world! Well, a bit more of the world than the part that was the Walter Estates. Pappy explained -three times- that there was always another horizon.  
  "[Guess what?]" Rabbit chirped, and didn't wait for a guess. "[Pappy found someone to make our music better and his name's Mister Reed and he can play anything! And he's gonna come and show us music and Pappy's getting him to come up and see *us*!]"  
  "[Why?]" tweeted The Spine.  
  "[Because we're awesome,]" warbled Rabbit. "[And he's gonna teach us how to play real beautiful, 'cause he can play real beautiful.]"  
  Pappy came in with the nervous Mister Reed in tow. "And this is the lab. You won't be teaching here, of course. I'll set up a music room for you. Every instrument you could want! And of course I'll pay for whichever lodgings you deem most suitable. Generous wages, of course. Of course. Putting up with me and my devices is well worthy of a bonus, don't you think?"  
  "Uh," said Mister Reed. "They'll be able to get there?"  
  Pappy looked at The Spine and clapped his head. "Of course! The legs. I got distracted by The Spine's heat issues. I'll have him in one piece in a jiffy. Do pardon me, Miss Iris."  
  Ma hopped off the slab and gathered the things into her sewing basket.  
  "Um," Mister Reed tapped Rabbit on the shoulder. "That's called 'The Spine'?"  
  "That's my brother," Rabbit smiled. "My name is Rabbit, and that's The Spine. You already met Pappy and this," he snagged Ma by her pinafore. "is *Ma*."  
  "That's Miss Iris to you, Mister...?"  
  "Reed, Ma'am." He grabbed his head wires[5] at the front and tugged at them. "Pleased t' make your acquaintance."  
  Pappy was busy with The Spine's leg. He held out an empty hand. "Three-eighths gripley."  
  "Ma'am? Is all this... normal?"  
  Ma escaped Rabbit to hand Pappy the part. "The first thing you learn in this house," she said, "is that there's no such thing as 'normal'."  
  Mister Reed was shaking. "I heard all sorts of stories about what goes on in this house, Miss Iris..."  
  "About a fifth are exaggerations, Mister Reed," said Ma. "The rest of them are just vile lies."  
  Rabbit started peering over Pappy's shoulder to watch his brother coming together at long last. He couldn't wait to show Spine the world.  
*  
  The Spine leaned uncertainly on Rabbit as they made their way to the Upper Music Room - as opposed to the Lower Music Room, which was at the other end of a rather lot of very scary stairs. He already spent a majority of his upright time terrified that his heavy upper body would tip his whole self over and break him.  
  Rabbit kept insisting he was getting better with every step.  
  The Spine wasn't so sure.  
  The Upper Music Room had re-enforced stools and an astonishing array of shiny instruments. And a special, padded chair for Mister Reed.  
  "Ah," he smiled a not-quite smile. "You made it. Both of you. Uh. Sit down, please." He wasn't smiling, any more. He didn't look happy at all.  
  The Spine knew it was his fault. He did his best to be small, but a seven-foot-tall steel automaton with chimneys coming out of his back can't be small at all.  
  Rabbit, of course, was eager to try new things, like the piano.  
  "Now. Spine, right?"  
  He managed a tiny, "...'essir..."  
  "I heard you play the guitar. I have a neat one here. Don't you want to play?"  
  The Spine clutched his rag tight over his mouth. The instrument in Mister Reed's hands looked way too pretty for him to touch. "...no want break..."  
  The fear seemed evaporate off Mister Reed. "I'm pretty sure you won't break it. This guitar may look pretty and fragile, but it's well built. Give 'er a try."  
  He moved very slowly, carefully cradling the instrument in his hands. Letting Mister Reed manipulate his hands into the right positions.  
  "See? You can do it. Now let's hear some scales."  
  Hours passed with the air full of music and slowly increasing confidence. And it seemed like no time at all before all three of them were 'jamming'. Making songs out of nonsense that didn't mean anything at all.  
  He almost didn't notice Ma and Pappy in the doorway. Both with identical proud smiles on their faces. But when he did, the air felt so... happy. Yes. Warm and together and the way things really *should* be.  
  Sort of.  
  Almost.  
  If there was one thing that would make it better, it would be Pappy and Ma hugging together. As it was, they were sort-of sneaking peeks at each other, and when they did, their smiles got... better. Yes.  
  Rabbit was noticing, too. And without missing a beat or saying a word, segued into one of the love songs they'd heard from Pappy's phonograph. The Spine stuck with harmonising. It meant that his leaks didn't interfere with the words, because there weren't any words. Just 'oooh' or 'aaah' at the appropriate time.  
  They finished to applause, even from Mister Reed.  
  "I dare say you have some right cunning machines, here Colonel Walter, sir," Mister Reed grinned. "I never did see a body take to music so fast."  
  And then Pappy said the thing that might as well have shattered the world.  
  "Thank you, Mister Reed. Why, in a few days, with a few tweaks, they'll be right as rain for charming my Delilah."  
  The smile bled off of Ma's face.  
  The entire room went cold.  
  The entire world got scary again.  
  Ma went very stiff.  
  Her eyes made water that spilled down her face in thick, fat drops.  
  Pappy did not notice Ma turning away from him.  
  He didn't see Ma creeping away.  
  Spine couldn't take it. He very carefully put the fancy, shiny guitar down and went straight for Rabbit. Who, in a fit of brotherly understanding, had put his squeeze-box down and opened his arms.  
  He needed hugs.  
  And, right now, Rabbit was the only one who could give and receive them without any harm.  
  "What got into them?" said Pappy.  
  "I have no idea, sir. You made them. Seems to me as how you'd know them better'n me..."  
  Pappy sighed. "Maybe it's been a long day for them. They're still very new. Come along, boys. Back to the lab, eh? Say 'thank you, Mister Reed'..."  
  Dutifully, because he'd been told it was wrong to make a scene in front of guests, they both echoed, "Thank you, Mister Reed."  
  "Same time tomorrow?" said Pappy.  
  Mister Reed nodded and started picking things up.  
  Pappy didn't know!  
  How could Pappy not know?  
  He was so smart. Why did he miss the important things?  
  
[1] Pockets in her pinafore.  
[2] Rabbit hasn't heard Pappy try to be musical.  
[3] Yes, still the fence around the Walter estates.  
[4] This was a motoring law at one stage. May not be historically accurate.  
[5] The robots think hair is wire.


End file.
